Assembling machine

ABSTRACT

A machine for securing two-preformed metal panels together into a unitary hollow structure, consisting of a table upon which the panels are laid in superimposed nested relationship with an upstanding locking flange of one panel encompassing a marginal edge of the other panel. A flange bending member is supported above the table by means of a spring biased guide member projecting out of the table surface and includes both a bevelled and a horizontal flange engaging surface. The flange bending member is movable laterally and vertically by means of levers and air cylinders.

United States Patent [72] lnventor Edouard R. St. Denis 8787 Riverside Drive, East Windsor, Ontario, Canada [21] Appl. No 833.405 [221 Filed June 16, 1969 [45] Patented Aug. 10,1971

[54] ASSEMBLING MACHINE 6 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.CL....L 113/54, 29/2435 [51] 1nt.Cl 821d 39/02 [50] Field ofSeardi 113/54; 29/2435 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,147,726 9/1964 Tribe 113/54 3,276,409 10/1966 St. Denis 113/54 FOREIGN PATENTS 824,584 12/1959 Great Britain 113/54 Primary Examiner-Richard .1. Herbst Attorneys-Peter Kirby and Charles P. Curphey ABSTRACT: A machine for securing two-preformed metal panels together into a unitary hollow structure, consisting of a table upon which the panels are laid in superimposed nested relationship with an upstanding locking flange of one panel encompassing a marginal edge of the other panel. A flange bending member is supported above the table by means of a spring biased guide member projecting out of the table surfaceand includes both a bevelled and a horizontal flange engaging surface. The flange bending member is movable laterally and vertically by means of levers and air cylinders.

PATENTED AUG] 0 I97! SHEET 1 BF 3 PATENTEU m1 men SHEET 2 OF 3 1. I I .llllll.

PATENTEB AUG] 0 IHYI $598,073

SHEET 3 BF 3 ASSEMBLING MACHINE 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an improved assembling machine for joining two preformed metal panels.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is common practice, particularly in the automotive industry, to join together various components consisting of two metal preformed panels into unitary, two-part hollow structural units. A typical structural unit of this type is the hollow door used in passenger cars and trucks.

The first preformed panel has peripheral flange or flanges extending substantially perpendicular to the general plane of the panel. Such flanges are referred to hereafter as the locking" flanges. The second panel then sits within the locking flanges of the first panel with the marginal edges of the second panel lying close to the base of the locking flanges of the first panel. In this position the locking flanges are then bent and pressed against the second panel, thereby securing the two panels into a unitary, hollow structural unit.

My US. Pat. No. 3,276,409 issued on Oct. 4, 1966 describes an assembling machine for bending and pressing locking flanges in which the locking flange is first bent to approximately 45 with respect to the plane of the panel by a member which is moved substantially perpendicular to the plane of the locking flange, the member being in engagement with the flange close to its upper or free edge when the member has reached the end of its bending stroke. The member is then lowered to bend the flange into full engagement'with the companion panel.

This earlier machine was found to have some disadvantages, the most serious of which was that the bend in the locking flange tended to be excessively sharp with some resultant cracking along the bend.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have now been able to overcome the difliculty with my previous machine by providing the flange bending member with both a bevelled and a horizontal flange engaging surface. With this arrangement the bending member is moved laterally to a first position in which the bevelled surface overlies the upestanding locking flange, in which lateral position the member is lowered so that the bevelled surface engages the upstanding flange, bending it to about 45 with respect to the plane of the panel. The bending member is then moved laterally to a second position in which the horizontal surface overlies the .partially bent flange, in which position the bending member is again lowered to complete the bending of the flange.

The bending member is supported above the surface of the table by means of a resilient support member which controls the vertical position of the bending member during lateral movement. This support member also includes a stop which limits the distance that the bending member can be moved toward the table surface. This stop prevents excessive pressing of the bent flange, which can cause splitting along the bend.

According to a preferred feature of the invention, the resilient support member is in the form of a spring biased guide projecting out of the table surface. The bending member is supported by and slides laterally on the projecting guide member. This guide member also serves the second important function of providing an abutment against which the locking flange comes to rest when the nesting panels are positioned in the machine. It is, of course, very important that the nesting panels be precisely positioned in the machine and the distance that the bending member is held above the table must also be carefully controlled. Both of these requirements are satisfied by the spring biasedguide member projecting out of the table surface.

The bending membercan be conveniently moved laterally by means of a pivotally mounted arm connected to an air cylinder. The movement of the bending member into the two different lateral positions can be easily accomplished by means ofa double acting air cylinder.

The downward movement of the bending member can bev accomplished by a mechanism positioned'either above or below the table surface. It can be conveniently placed out of the way beneath the table surface by the use of connecting rods passing through the table surface. These connecting rods can be attached to pivotally mounted arms which are connected to air cylinders.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Certain preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the assembling machine of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a second perspective view of the maehinezshown in FIG. I,

bending member and FIGS. 4a to 4g are detailed sectional views showing the different positions of the bending member of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS used for moving the nesting panels into position in the machine. The frame -15 is vertically movable and is shown in FIG. ,I in the position for moving the nesting panels into and out of the machine. When the nesting panels are properly positioned in the machine for bending of the flanges, the frame I5 is in the lowered position shown in FIG. 2.

As can also be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the flange bending member 17 has a flange engaging surface I9 which is contoured to mate with the contour of the bed I3 and the con toured edges of the panels to be joined. The bending member 17 is supported above the bed 13 by means of projecting guides position the panels.

A series of brackets 20 are secured to the flange bending member 17 and a second series of brackets 21 are secured to table 10 vertically below brackets 20. Pivotally connected to brackets 20 and 21 by means of rods 22 and 23 respectively are pivot arms 24. These pivot arms 24 are fastened to a crossbar 25 from which extends arm 26 such that the parts 24, 25 and 26 form a rigid pivot arm unit. The arm 26 is pivotally connected at its lower end to piston rod 27 of double acting air cylinder 28. The cylinder 28 is pivotally connected to bracket 29 which is secured to the lower platform 30 of table 10.

A pair of stabilized arms 3] are fixed to the upper end of cylinder 28 and extend adjacent each side arm 26, while permitting free movement of arm 26 therebetween. These stabilizer arms prevent rotation of the housing ofcylinder 28.

When the lower section of the cylinder-is actuated, the

cylinder housing moves upwardly andoutwardly. This causes a counterclockwise rotation of arms 24 about pivot2'3 and a laterally inward movement of bending member l7.

When the upper section of the cylinder 28 is actuated, piston rod 27 also moves upwardly and outwardly causing a still further counterclockwise rotation of arms 24 and'further inward movement of bending member I7.

The vertical downward movement of bending member 17 is effected by connecting rods 35. The rods 35 extend up through the bending member 17 and are held in place by screw caps 36. The lower end of each rod is pivotally connected to one end of pivot arm 37 which is mounted in a bracket while the other end of arm 37 is pivotally connected to air cylinder 38 which is pivotally mounted in bracket 39 on platform 30.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view showing details of the 19 in the bed, which guides also serve as abutments to The principal features of this invention are clearly illustrated in FIG. 3 from which it will be seen that connecting rod 35 is pivotally connected to arm 37 which in turn is pivotally mounted in bracket 40 which is secured to the underside of table It). The rod 35 passes through hole 41 in table and through the longitudinal slot 42 in the bending member 17. Finally it passes through plate 50 and the entire mechanism is held in place by screw cap 36. The plate 50 serves as a cover for the slots 42.

It can be seen that the bending member 17 includes both a bevelled face 45 and a horizontal face, with the horizontal face riding on the guide member 18. The guide member 18 moves freely upwardly and downwardly in hole 51 in table it) with its downward movement being limited by shoulder 44 but always being urged upwardly by the resistance of spring member 43. 7

Only a portion of a pair of nesting panels is shown in F IG. 3 with panel 48 nesting within the upwardly turned flange 47 of panel 46. The flange 47 butts against the edge of guide 18 so that this guide member serves not only as a support for bond ing member 17 but also as a positioning stop for the nesting panels.

The sequence of events in the operation of the device according to this invention is shown in FIGS. 40 to 4g. After the nesting panels have been placed in position with flange 47 abutting against guide 18, cylinder 28a is actuated causing movement of the cylinder housing and rotation of arms 24 in a clockwise direction. This causes bending member 17 to move forward and assume the position shown in FIG. 3a with the bevelled surface 45 overlying flange 47. With the bending member in this lateral position, cylinder 38 is actuated causing arm 37 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction and thus causing bending member 17 to pivot downwardly about pivot 22 and against the resistance of guide 18 to assume the position shown in FIG. 4b and cause bending of the flange 47 as shown.

Cylinder 38 is then deactivated allowing bending member 17 to return to the position shown in FIG. 40 under the force of the spring loaded guide 18. In this position cylinder 28b is actuated causing a still further clockwise rotation of arms 24 and further lateral movement of bending member 17 to the position shown in FIG. 4d in which the horizontal surface of the bending member overlies the partially bent flange 47. In

this position cylinder 3 is once again activated, causing downward movement of bending member 17 to the position shown in FIG. 4e, thus completing the bending of the flange 4'7. Cylinder 38 is once again deactivated, permitting bending member 17 to rise to the position shown in FIG. 4f under the influence of spring loaded guide 18 and then cylinders 28a and 28b are deactivated, causing bending member 17 to return to the position shown in FIG. 3. The structural unit formed is then removed from the machine, a new pair of nesting panels are inserted and the cycle is repeated. 7

An important feature of the bending member 17 is that its contacting surfaces do not move downwardly in a straight line but in the arc of a circle about pivot 22. This arcuate motion of the contacting surfaces has the effect of eliminating any shrinkage of panel 46 during bending of the flange 47.

Another feature of the machine of this invention is that the contacting surfaces of flange bending member 17 and bed 13 can be easily respotted. Thus, nuts 36 and the pins connecting rods 35 to arms 37 are removed, allowing rods 35 to drop out of position. Flange bending member 17 is then simply swung only one flange, it will be appreciated that additional bending members can be included to simultaneously bend additional flanges.

The machine can be controlled from manually operated control valves and is actuated by means of a pneumatic system including a series of valve assemblies and air lines. Many different pneumatic systems are possible but the particular arrangements used are a matter of ordinary technical skill and are not a part of the present invention. As an example of a suitable pneumatic system there can be mentioned that shown in my above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,409.

It is a completely self contained machine requiring, only a source of compressed air for operation, and can be used in any location, inside or outside.

lclaim:

l. A machine for securing two preformed metal panels together into a unitary hollow structure, comprising a table upon which the panels are laid in superimposed nested relationship with an upstanding locking flange of one panel en compassing a marginal edge of the other panel; a horizontally and vertically moveable flange bending member positioned above said table, said member including both a bevelled and horizontal flange engaging surface; a vertically reciprocal stop member projecting out of the table surface, said stop member being spring biased upwardly to assume a normally extended position and having a top surface which supports said flange bending member thereon; shoulder means for limiting the downward movement of the stop member whereby the top surface thereof projects a predetermined minimum distance above the table surface in retracted position, thereby limiting the downward movement of the bending member; means to laterally move said flange bending member supported on said stop member in said extended position to a first position in which the bevelled surface overlies the locking flange and a second position in which the horizontal surface overlies the locking flange; and means for lowering said member against said spring biased stop member to provide partial bending of the flange in said first position and complete bending in said second position.

2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the means for lateral movement includes a bracket on the table and a lever pivoted to said bracket about a point intermediate its ends and pivotally connected at one end to said flange bending member.

3. A machine according to claim 2 wherein the other end of said lever is connected to an air cylinder.

4. A machine according to claim 3 wherein the cylinder is a double acting cylinder.

5. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the means for lowering said flange bending member includes a connecting rodextending up through the table having its upper end connected to said flange bending member and its lower end pivotally connected to one end of a lever which is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends in a bracket on the underside of the table.

6. A machine according to claim 5 wherein the other end of said lever is connected to an air cylinder. 

1. A machine for securing two preformed metal panels together into a unitary hollow structure, comprising a table upon which the panels are laid in superimposed nested relationship with an upstanding locking flange of one panel encompassing a marginal edge of the other panel; a horizontally and vertically moveable flange bending member positioned above said table, said member including both a bevelled and horizontal flange engaging surface; a vertically reciprocal stop member projecting out of the table surface, said stop member being spring biased upwardly to assume a normally extended position and having a top surface which supports said flange bending member thereon; shoulder means for limiting the downward movement of the stop member whereby the top surface thereof projects a predetermined minimum distance above the table surface in retracted position, thereby limiting the downward movement of the bending member; means to laterally move said flange bending member supported on said stop member in said extended position to a first position in which the bevelled surface overlies the locking flange and a second position in which the horizontal surface overlies the locking flange; and means for lowering said member against said spring biased stop member to provide partial bending of the flange in said first position and complete bending in said second position.
 2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the means for lateral movement includes a bracket on the table and a lever pivoted to said bracket about a point intermediate its ends and pivotally connected at one end to said flange bending member.
 3. A machine according to claim 2 wherein the other end of said lever is connected to an air cylinder.
 4. A machine according to claim 3 wherein the cylinder is a double acting cylinder.
 5. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the means for lowering said flange bending member includes a connecting rod extending up through the table having its upper end connected to said flange bending member and its lower end pivotally connected to one end of a lever which is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends in a bracket on the underside of the table.
 6. A machine according to claim 5 wherein the other end of said lever is connected to an air cylinder. 